John Scarffe, Central City.   The City of Central Council amended rules of procedure regarding holiday meeting dates during a regular meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, October 16, 2018, at the City Hall, 141 Nevada Street. The council also approved a motion to oppose Amendment 74 and voted down a motion to support Proposition 110.

The council conducted a public hearing on the second reading of an ordinance amending Rule 1 of the Council Rules of Procedure. The council approved the first reading of the ordinance on October 2.

Attorney McAskin explained that the ordinance revises the Rule 1 to make it clear that any regular meeting that falls on a holiday will be held on the immediately following business day at 7 p.m., according to the minutes. In January 2019, the first regular meeting will be Wednesday, January 2, at 7 p.m., since the New Year’s Holiday falls on Tuesday, January 1.

The minor revisions to the rules addressed in the ordinance include clarifying that if any regular meeting is scheduled to fall on a holiday, whether federal, state or local, the regular meeting will be on the next business day at 7 p.m. The rules were previously adopted by an ordinance on May 16, 2017.

Hearing no comment from the public, Mayor Kathy Heider closed the Public Hearing, and the council approved the ordinance.

Manager Daniel Miera introduced a resolution opposing Amendment 74, an attempt to amend the Colorado Constitution to drastically limit state and local government services at a high cost to taxpayers. He said Amendment 74 will limit core functions of the city, and the high costs of the adverse impacts will be borne by Central City taxpayers.

“This resolution highlights the adverse impacts of Amendment 74 and seeks to protect the citizens of Central City and Colorado by opposing the measure and strongly urging a vote of no on the amendment in November,” Miera said. The council approved the resolution unanimously.

Manager Miera reviewed the background of a resolution supporting Proposition 110, a Statewide Transportation Sales Tax Solution. Proposition 110, a statutory change, seeks to increase the state sales tax rate by .62 percent as a dedicated funding stream for state, municipal, county and multimodal transportation infrastructure.

This proposition will distribute 45 percent of the revenue to the State Highway Fund for bond repayments for state projects and, after required payments have been made each year, maintenance and pay-as-you-go projects. The next 40 percent of the revenue would be allocated to the newly created Local Transportation Priorities Fund. This revenue would be divided 50 percent between cities and counties.

Mayor Pro Tem Shirley Voorhies moved to approve the resolution and Alderman Judy Laratta seconded, and without discussion, the motion failed with Alderman Laratta and Alderman Aiken opposed.

The Central City Council meeting on November 6, 2018, was canceled due to the elections. The council met on November 20.

(Originally published in the December 6, 2018, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)